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‚The remarkable performances of the Holst Singers, securely balanced on the tightrope between pianissimo sensitivity and full-throated veneration… The intonation is faultless across all the registers here, diction is clear and the choral sound is beautifully homogenized – there doesn’t seem to be a weak voice anywhere. Nor is there a weak piece: all 22 items blaze with devout passion. With the volume turned up, one after another brought up the hair on the back of my neck … This is a glorious CD and it should bring you much pleasure‘ (International Record Review)

‚The programme is scrupulously prepared, with excellent pronunciation, idiomatic timbres anda fine fusion of ardent communication and sensitive shaping. The disc was recorded in the superb acoustic of All Hallows, Gospel Oak, London, and Ivan Moody’s informative essay is an indispensable bonus‘ (Gramophone)

‚Performing with insight and commendable Russian sonority, the Holst Singers have cast their net wide in this survey of Orthodox Church music. The main focus is the pre-Revolution period of the early 20th century, with Pavel Chesnokov generously represented. But he and other composers found ways of reconciling inventiveness with the Church’s constraints, and such rarities as César Cui’s Magnificat, together with works by Shvedov, Kastalsky and more familiar Rachmaninoff, make for a fascinating spectrum‘ (The Daily Telegraph)

‚In hymns, prayers, invocations and anthems. These composers draw on ancient chant to produce music which is always passionate … Beautifully captured by the Holst Singers‘ (Choir & Organ Magazine)

Artykuł CHESNOKOV, GRECHANINOV, KALINNIKOV, RIMSKY-KORSAKOV, RACHMANINOV <br />Ikon II <br />Holst Singers <br />Stephen Layton pochodzi z serwisu Cleartone.

‚The power of Tavener at his best is fully unlocked by Polyphony and Stephen Layton, whose sensitivity to the sacred and human in his music communicates in every work on this disc‘ (Classic FM Magazine)

‚Stephen Layton’s superb choir, Polyphony, does wonders in bringing variety to a sequence of John Tavener’s works for small chorus that might easily have seemed too slow and meditative‘ (The Guardian)

‚for the Tavener devotee, among whose number I include myself, this disc is an essential survey of the composer’s recent musical concerns, and contains some splendid new music‘ (International Record Review)

‚performed with conviction by Stephen Layton’s Polyphony. His professional choir manages to convey the hypnotic serenity at the heart of Tavener’s latest works, while packing a punch in their more dramatic moments, a strategy supported by Hyperion’s A-grade recorded sound‘ (Music Week)

‚The brilliant, white, celestial light Tavener so effectively evoked earlier in the decade had a chill core. Here – if you will bear with the synaesthesiac overtones – gold seeps in, along with the deep blue traditionally associated with portraits of the Virgin‘ (Gramophone)

‚Stephen Layton’s heartfelt commitment to the composer’s music brings forth shimmering performances from his excellent choir Polyphony. If you enjoy radiant choral writing and singing, then this is the disc for you‘ (Choir & Organ)

‚Polyphony fields 25 singers for this project and for this repertory, I think you’ve got about a good a choir as you could possibly get. Stephen Layton directs with clarity and sensitivity. In fact, his expert pacing is the main reason for this recording’s success. This is one of Layton’s best CDs yet, and that’s saying something‘ (BBC Radio 3 CD Review)

Artykuł TAVENER <br />The Second Coming <br />Stephen Layton <br />Polyphony pochodzi z serwisu Cleartone.

‘An appealing collection of choral works from the composer of the celebrated carol, Three Kings from Persian lands afar. Polyphony are perfect advocates of this richly woven choral writing and the solo singing is very fine too’ (Gramophone)

‘These are superior performances, Layton’s group Polyphony offering refined tone and exceptional precision, together with a careful observation of Cornelius’s dynamics and fluent phrasing’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Enthusiastically recommended’ (American Record Guide)

‘Polyphony sing with solemn beauty. The sound is sumptuous and richly atmospheric’ (The Guardian)

‘This program offers an exciting trip into what for most listeners will be a world of happy discovery’ (Classics Today)

Artykuł CORNELIUS <br />The Three Kings & other choral works <br />Polyphony <br />Stephen Layton pochodzi z serwisu Cleartone.

‚Outstandingly good on each front: clarity, balance, intonation, timbre, dynamic and textural control and, perhaps most important of all, feeling‘ (Classic CD)

‚Committed and definitive performances of this intense music‘ (Organists‘ Review)

‚Polyphony’s singing is immensely cultivated; bright, clear, immaculately phrased, and gorgeously balanced‘ (American Record Guide)

‚Pärt’s music remains an object of unstinting wonder‘ (BBC Music Magazine)

Artykuł PART <br />Berliner Messe and Magnificat <br />Polyphony <br />Stephen Layton pochodzi z serwisu Cleartone.

‚A disc to delight all those who admire Rutter’s choral writing. Full of delights and with something for everyone. Certainly a must!‘ (Organists‘ Review)

‚Sensitive, beautifully blended singing and playing. First class‘ (Amazon.co.uk)

‚A radiant richness of sound.‘ (The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs)

‚Here is music finely crafted, written with love for the art and an especial care for choral sound‘ (Gramophone)

Artykuł RUTTER <br />Requiem and other choral works <br />Polyphony <br />Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra <br />Stephen Layton pochodzi z serwisu Cleartone.